


Beautiful Lies

by sympeony



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Angst, I'm truly sorry for this..., angst all around, mainly marichat
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-05
Updated: 2016-06-05
Packaged: 2018-07-12 09:13:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,466
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7096312
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sympeony/pseuds/sympeony
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Oh, what a tangled web we weave. When first we practice to deceive!”<br/>								-Walter Scott</p><p>Romantic relationships are difficult.  Getting your crush to notice you so you can finally initiate one is even harder.  Watch as Marinette finally works up the courage to tell Adrien of her true feelings, and as two teenagers learn to deal with love, hurt, and betrayal.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Prologue**

The akuma of the day, an emotionally distraught barber with a wicked pair of scissors, had been defeated by Paris’s beloved dynamic duo. Ladybug had just used her miraculous powers to restore the city-and everyone’s hair for that matter- when Nooroo tumbled out of the miraculous brooch on Hawk Moth’s chest just in time to see the window to his lair seal shut.

The room was plunged into absolute darkness without the usual closing remarks about Ladybug or Chat Noir’s inevitable defeat. The only sounds audible were Hawkmoth’s controlled breathing, the fluttering of hundreds of butterfly wings and the distinct sound of leather being pulled taut across clenched fists.. The air was static and the mood, tense.

"Nooroo," called Hawk Moth suddenly, his booming voice shattering the silence. “Come here.”

The little kwami flinched where he lay on the floor at his master’s feet. Knowing that Hawk Moth hated to repeat himself, he rose and floated up to the ominous shadow above. “Yes, master?” he said, his voice seeming impossibly tiny.

“Where are the other miraculouses located?”

It was a simple question. To those unaware of what miraculouses exactly were, it was harmless even. Nooroo knew better, however. That question was never to be answered, especially to the likes of Hawk Moth.

“I-I don’t know,” he lied, his head bowed low as to not betray the falsity of his words.

Hawk Moth tsked and raised his hands around Nooroo, effectively forming a cage around the little kwami with his steepled gloved fingers; bars at Nooroo’s back and at his front. It was a cage as physical as it was mental. “It seems as though I made a mistake,” he said simply. “I should not have asked. Nooroo, tell me where the other miraculouses are.”

A command. Nooroo was all too familiar with those, having been exposed to them from the very start of his new ownership. “I am sorry, master,” he murmured meekly. “I don’t know where they are.”

“Now, Nooroo, you know that I do not appreciate being lied to. I will have your obedience or you will face the consequences. Now, tell me the truth. If you persist to withhold the truth from me as to the whereabouts of the other Miraculouses, I'll have no other choice but to punish you."

"You can do anything to hurt me, Hawk Moth,” said Nooroo as a matter of fact, strength swelling inside of him. “I am immortal. Impossible to kill." There was no barrier that Nooroo could not cross and he’d been around a whole lot longer than anyone in the world.

"Ah, but you cannot exist outside of your miraculous without a wielder, can you?"

Nooroo paled and instantly went still. Just like that, his strength was quelled.

"If you do not tell me where the rest of the Miraculouses are,” his master continued, “I will find the deepest, darkest trench in the ocean to throw your brooch in. I can assure you that nobody will ever find your miraculous and you will spend an eternity in darkness."

"You can't do that!" the little kwami cried, fear coursing through his body.

"But I can, Nooroo. I can, and you know deep down that I most definitely will." He chuckled then, deep and dark. "After all, I don't really need you, you know. I do have the peacock miraculous at my disposal. I can simply do things myself."

Nooroo was absolutely terrified. None of the kwami truly enjoyed being bound to their Miraculous; stuck inside jewelry, in a box, never knowing whom your next master would be or whether or not they would be forced to do evil like what Nooroo was currently doing.

There had been a time, centuries and millennia ago, when kwami hadn’t been bound to miraculous. It was a time before the first humans had ever roamed the Earth. They lived in peace, harmony with each other…until humans finally came into existence and found a way to bind them to their jewelry.

Nooroo imagined a world without hope of ever being let out of his miraculous-of never seeing the light of day ever again. The prospect of such a world caused a deep despair to rise up within Nooroo and he knew that Hawk Moth, the man so ruthless he would akumatize a child, would have no qualms traveling to the middle of an ocean to drop Nooroo's miraculous. He had the will and the means to make such a feat possible.

So, with a hung head and a heavy heart, Nooroo surrendered. "I'll tell you…"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author Notes: Honestly…I have no idea what the hell I am doing. I just started my summer vacation and I wanted to write a fanfic about my favourite show(to pass the time as I cry about this long hiatus till next season). Fingers crossed that it doesn’t suck… X Toodles! ☺


	2. Just Do It

The summer had seemed to last forever. For Marinette, each day was filled with plenty of activity, whether that was serving iced coffee and macarons in her parents’ bakery, or fighting off akuma as Ladybug- alongside her partner, Chat Noir, of course.

Yes, unfortunately, Hawk Moth didn't know the meaning of ‘summer vacation’, and if anything, the number of akuma had seemed to double. Marinette had thought warm weather and ice cream would put them at ease and cause the people of Paris to be more relaxed, but apparently- _for reasons unknown_ \- it only served to make them even more distressed. It was either that, or Hawk Moth had more time on his hands than usual. There were always going to be people with upset emotions to akumatize for the notorious villain, and until she and Chat Noir figured out where he was hiding, the akuma weren't going to stop appearing anytime soon.

But that wasn't out of the ordinary for her. It was weary, sure. And at times, it was even stressful. Nevertheless, the more she fought, the easier each akuma was to take down. Even in the brief periods during the summer months where Chat Noir wasn’t able to show up (due to civilian matters, he’d assured her), she still managed to hold her ground against enemies. It’d been difficult at first, but she’d grown stronger because of it. 

She still remembered the day, near the end of the last semester, that she had officially met Master Fu; the guardian of the miraculous. After Tikki had lead her to a small massage parlor, she’d delivered the heavy tome filled with information on the various miraculous, he’d invited her to sit down and have a cup of ginger tea. No words could really describe the surprise she felt when the unassuming, frail old man (donning a red Hawaiian shirt to boot), had called her by her alter ego’s name.

Awestruck, she had sat down and simply listened. He thanked her for finding the tome and for fulfilling her duties, and he’d encouraged her to continue fighting as Ladybug. He asked her a few questions about her personal life, nothing too deep, and she had answered them meekly. No real groundbreaking information was shared between them as she had sipped on her cup of hot ginger tea. She’d been curious, but not curious enough to ask many questions, still stunned to learn that he had been the one to bestow on her the powers she now possessed.

  _“I know you have many questions on your mind, Ladybug,” he said to her after a long stretch of silence._

_“I do,” she agreed, and then added. “One, really. Why… me?”_

_“I chose you because I’ve seen your character. You are unselfish, willing to help, bold, courageous and brave.”_

_Marinette flushed and hid behind the curtain of her bangs, a bit uncomfortable with the praise he’d bestowed on her. Of the five phrases he’d used to describe her, she could probably lay claim to only one of them. She was very willing to help, but as for the rest? Well, that was up for debate._

_“Thank you for your kind words,” she said sincerely, “but I can’t agree on all of them. Maybe there’s something that you see that I cannot…”_

_“Do not fret over the why’s and how’s, Ladybug,” he consoled her. “You will see these things in due time. Had you none of the qualities I mentioned, I would not have chosen you to be the wielder of the Ladybug miraculous.”_

_Marinette chewed diligently on her bottom lip, when all of a sudden, she remembered her partner. “What about Chat Noir? Will you-"_

_“Chat Noir will find me in due time, when he is ready,” Master Fu finished for her. “If you do not mind, I ask that you keep the knowledge of our meeting from Chat Noir. I would like for him to advance at his own pace and at his own time.”_

_Marinette did mind, not used to keeping secrets (other than her identity) from her partner. But, she respected Master Fu’s wishes to keep their little rendezvous in the dark and refrained from spilling the beans to Chat Noir. Whether or not he had had his own private meeting was unknown to her, and until he made mention of it, she would not ask him otherwise._

Since that day, every time she passed the mysterious little massage parlor on the corner, she couldn’t help but eye it with suspicion. She hadn’t the guts to go back, despite her curiosity.

Today, however, she was in for a whole other different battle-a battle of the mind and heart alike. School resumed today and that meant that Adrien Agreste-aka the love of her life-was returning. Marinette pressed her back against the wall to Collège Françoise Dupont’s main staircase outside, and placed a hand against her chest to try and steady her heart. It didn't seem to get the message though, and insisted on fluttering a million beats per minutes. The ferocity of her heartbeat made Marinette vaguely wonder if such a thing was hardly healthy. _Probably not…_

Yet, she couldn't help it. An image of the blonde haired, green-eyed model flashed through her mind and she let out a wistful sigh. Butterflies, much like the ones she caught and cleansed regularly, suddenly fluttered in her stomach, pure delight and nervousness racing through her entire system.

She couldn’t wait to see him again. To her misfortune, she hadn't gotten a chance to see him at all since vacation had begun. The only time she had managed to catch a glimpse of him was on the new summer _Agreste_ collection posters or on television, for the few seconds he spent walking down the runway at Paris’s Fashion Week event. Other than that?-nada, zip.

“It’s your last year in collège , Marinette!” Tikki exclaimed from her post inside Marinette’s purse. “How exciting!”

“I know Tikki,” she said, smiling affectionately at the tiny red kwami. “I almost can't believe it, but I know it’s real. I have a feeling this year could be the best one yet. 

“I’m positive it’ll be!” Tikki cheered, always the optimist. “And you get to see _you know who_ again.”

Knowing exactly _who_ Tikki was referring to, Marinette could not agree more, her body vibrating with nervous excitement at the prospect of starting a new school year and all the possibilities it presented. “Oh, I just can’t wait for him to show up!”

"Can’t wait for who?” asked a new voice behind her, to the left.

Marinette squeaked and jumped, her hand flying to the clasp on her purse. Tikki had already vanished within its depths, completely out of sight. She swiveled her head sharply to the side and leveled a pointed glare at her best friend, who only returned the gesture with a cheeky smile.

“Girl, it's the first day of school. Isn’t it a bit too early to start stalking?"

"I am NOT stalking, Alya,” Marinette chided, mentally adding, _‘at least not yet’_ to her words. “I’m observing. Well, waiting to observe…there’s a difference."

"Uh-huh.   Sure you are,” she replied, her thinly sculpted eyebrow raised indicated that she didn’t buy her words for a minute. “And what-or _whom_ might you be waiting to observe? A certain model perhaps? Hmm?"

“Oh Alya, you know me so well.” she snarked. Then she slapped her friend’s arm with a playful smirk. “But who else, silly!”

Alya sighed and rested her arm on the concrete wall to the stairs. She was in plain view of the students loitering around the front entrance, but Marinette remained hidden, almost in the bushes. “You haven’t gotten over him yet, have you?” She said it as a statement-not a question.

“You know I haven’t Alya. How could I? I lo-”

“You love him. I know,” Alya said, finishing Marinette’s statement for her. “I just worry about you, you know. There are plenty of guys who I know would be really interested in you. How about Kim? I hear he’s still available.”

“First of all,” Marinette started, a single index finger raised. “Absolutely no freaking way. Second of all,” she continued, the adjacent finger following suit, “everyone knows he and Alix have a thing going on. Trust me, there’s no need to be worried, Alya. I can handle it. And besides, this year is going to be different. I can feel it in my bones.”

“Oh really? Pray tell what your bones are telling you. What’s going to be so different this year, huh? I-I ce-cer-certainly hope it’s your little st-st-stuttering problem.”

“We’ll have to see about that,” Mariette replied, grimacing, as she very well knew what a hindrance her ability, or rather lack thereof, to speak to Adrien Agreste was. “I have a plan though. This is the year that Adrien will finally notice me.”

“Marinette, you know I love you and think that you’re the greatest gal pal in the world, but Adrien’s already proven he’s about as dense as they come. Anything short of writing your feelings on the blackboard isn’t going to get the message through to him.”

“And that’s exactly what I’m going to do!” Marinette said triumphantly, pumping her fist in the air.

“Write it out on the chalkboard?”  

“No!”

Alya frowned, and then she broke out into a grin. She reached out and clamped her hands over Marinette’s shoulders “Wait! You mean, you’re finally gonna tell him? Like, face to face? You, Marinette Dupain Cheng are going to ask Adrien Agreste out on a date?” 

Marinette returned the grin full force and nodded excitedly.

Alya squealed and Marinette joined in with equally unintelligent sounds, and they both joyously hopped in place together.

“When are you going to do it?” Alya asked after their mini parade. “It has to be romantic you know. You can't just blurt it out of nowhere.”

“I know that,” said Marinette. “I’m going to do it really soon. Like, this week soon. Hopefully…I guess. Ahh! It’s just so scary to think about, but I don't want to go the whole year without telling him.”

Marinette could swear she saw the tell tale sheen of tears behind Alya’s glasses. The buxom brunette sniffed, saying, “I’m so proud of you, Mari. Adrien had better accept your confession. If he doesn’t, I’ll-I’ll…well, I’ll do something that’s for sure.”

“I have absolutely no idea how this will all turn out,” she admitted sadly. “All I can do is hope for the best. I need to be honest with him. I don’t think I could last another year without telling him the truth…do you get me?”

“I get you girl, and I salute you for finally deciding to tell him. And you can’t back out, you hear! We won’t know what’ll happen _till_ it happens,” she said after tapping Marinette on her nose. Then, her eyes became fixed on a point behind Marinette’s back and a smirk appeared on her lips. “And there’s no better time than the present to prove yourself. Your lover boy’s here.” Alya, one hand still on Marinette’s shoulders, physically turned her in the direction of the sidewalk. Just as she had suggested (though she would ignore the _‘lover boy’_ comment), Adrien Agreste's shiny silver car rolled up and the boy wonder himself stepped out.

Time seemed to stop.

There he stood. Adrien Agreste, in all of his handsome, kind, and magnificent glory. Marinette quickly noted the changes in his appearance, filing it away in her mental cabinet to drool over later. He had definitely grown taller, and his shoulders were much broader than the last year. Puberty had treated Adrien kindly and Marinette was ever so grateful. Very kindly indeed.

Marinette reached behind her and grasped Alya's hand. Squeezing it while her mouth formed something in between a smile and a grimace. "He's here! Oh my God Alya, he's here!"

"Yes, he is," her friend said with a chuckle. "And he's headed this way. Showtime, sweetheart." Then, in a stroke of wickedness, Alya shoved Marinette forward. She would have to thank Tikki some time later, because whether or not it transferred to her civilian self, plain old luck is what kept her from tripping over her feet as she stumbled into the open.

Her eyes widened with panic and she looked back at Alya, who only supplied a wink and a thumbs-up.

She breathed in and out. Alya was right. It was show time. She was going to hug him and welcome him back. Initiating any type of physical contact was a much bigger step than any she had ever taken before. She raised her hand to wave hello as he walked towards the school entrance when all of a sudden, a yellow and black blur sped past her. Marinette gaped.

"Adrikins!” Chloé shrieked, “Welcome back, honey!"

Apparently, Chloé Bourgeois had the same exact idea, except her plan was executed with a lot less finesse than Marinette would have had. Chloé’s plan of action included an over the top body tackle and smooches on both of Adrien's cheeks that he, not so subtly, shied away from.

"Hi Chloé!” he responded. “Long time no see."

"It's been ages, darling! I told Daddy to let me spend the summer with you in Paris, but he insisted I go on vacation abroad, " she said with a dramatic flair. She then began to prattle on about all the things she had done overseas, but Marinette couldn’t care any less to listen.

Alya placed a comforting hand on Marinette’s shoulder as they both observed the scene unfolding before them. Choé had basically hijacked her chance to greet Adrien first. "Don't worry, girlfriend. The day is still young. How about we go get our seats before little-miss-chatty over there tries to steal them again. Then, we can come up with ways for you to tell Adrien your feelings."

“Sounds like a plan,” Marinette agreed with a defeated sigh. There would be no getting near Adrien now with Chloé practically forming a barrier around the boy with her mere presence alone. With a dejected look back and her shoulders slumped, she and Alya made their way into the school and into their classroom.

A few of their classmates were already there.   Rose and Juleka sat in the back, as usual, a pair of ear buds shared between them as they jammed out to music. Nathanaël sat across the aisle from them, his hand moving a pencil gently over a paper, scribbling away at a drawing.   His head perked up when Marinette walked in and she smiled at him. He blushed, responding with one of his own, and went back to drawing.

Nino, who was sitting in the front, in the same seat as all the years before, took off his headphones as he saw the girls approaching.

"What up peeps?" he called, slipping his earphones from his head.

"Nothin' but the ceiling, baby," Alya replied with a flirtatious wink.

He stood up and wrapped his arms around her, placing a loud kiss on her lips. Marinette smiled at the couple and went to her seat, giving them as much privacy as she could as they openly expressed their affection for one another. Hopefully, that could be her and a certain someone in the near future. That is, if things went according to plan. Her cheeks began to heat up at the thoughts of the possible future in store for her, and she had to stop herself before she got too carried away in her fantasies.

As the minutes ticked by, more and more students began to file into the room. Max followed after Kim, who followed after Alix. They were arguing over who could eat the most ants, coincidentally, but not surprising.

Next came Ivan holding the hand of his girlfriend, Mylène.

And last but not least, came Chloé, Sabrina, and Adrien.

Alya separated from her lip lock with her boyfriend and swiftly slid into the seat beside Marinette. Chloé and Sabrina sneered at them briefly before occupying the only table usually available at the very front of the class.

Marinette observed as Nino and Adrien did their customary fist bump, and then without warning, her crush turned around and dazzled her with a smile.

"Hi Marinette!" said Adrien, a twinkle in his gentle green eyes. "How’re you doing?"

_Curse you Agreste. Why do you have to be so damn perfect…_

"Er-uh…" she stammered for a few quick seconds, before Alya nudged her in the ribs, signaling that she had better get herself together. "Hi!” she said at last, feeling quite dumb for the lame greeting. “I'm good, h-how about you?"

"I’m feeling great.   How was your summer?”

“M-my summer? I was hot. I-I mean you’re hot. Wait!” _Sweet mother of…get it together Marinette! “_ It was hot! My summer was hot! The temperature, that is,” she clarified, wishing the floor would just swallow her whole. “It was awesome. How about you? I saw you on TV once…” she admitted shyly, “for fashion week. That looked like fun”

Adrien blinked at her once…twice… At this point, she’d probably solidified her identity as a veritable weirdo in his mind. “To be honest, it was actually pretty boring,” he replied at last, his lips twisting to the side. “I worked the entire summer, so believe it or not, I’m actually kind of glad to be back. Homework sucks, but it means no more fashion shoots every single day. And plus, I get to see you guys again.”

“I love to see you too,” she blurted out, her heart skipping a beat. To her relief, Adrien only chuckled, not really picking up on the barely hidden meaning of her words. Then, she went and put her foot in her mouth. “Umm…eh- and your dad? Is he well?”

Adrien lips drooped a little at the corners and the edge of his jaw ticked. “Yeah, he’s cool. He was busy all summer though, so…” his voice trailed off and she immediately regretted her question. She wasn’t that naïve in her crush on the blonde supermodel, not to realize that Adrien and his father didn’t have the best of relationships.

“That’s nice,” she said, mentally smacking herself in the face for her own blunder. “Well, I hope we have a cool school-a cool year at school!” she corrected herself.  

“I’m sure we will,” he replied, and with that, he turned in his seat, leaving Marinette to marinate in her own self-mortification.

Feeling her face flush with embarrassment, she furrowed her eyebrows and buried her head on the table. If she concentrated hard enough, she could probably feel the disapproval wafting from Alya beside her.

“Ughh..” she groaned. She had a long road ahead of her…

*********

Adrien stole one last glance at the red-faced girl behind him who’d currently buried her face in the crook of her elbows, before facing forward. For the life of him, he could never understand why Marinette couldn’t make out more than a few broken strings of sentences around him. He assumed they were friends, but maybe he had thought wrong. Maybe she had still never gotten over the gum incident…

“Hey Nino,” he whispered, hunching over his desk and indicating for his best friend to do the same. Nino perked his eyebrows but followed his lead, scooting closer to hear his hushed words. “Did I say something weird to Marinette just now?” he asked.

Nino furrowed his brows and shook his head. “Not that I know of. Why?”

“Well, it’s been a while since I’ve known her and she still can hardly talk to me. Do you think she hates me because of the chewing gum thing?”

“Dude, that was like over a year ago. I think she’s way over that. Besides,” he added, “she doesn’t _hate_ you. Marinette doesn’t have it in her to _hate_ anybody.”

“I know, I know. It’s just that it's that I want to get along with everyone…She's the only one who always seems...scared of me? Is that it? We got along fine for the tournament thing but after that....” he trailed off, making sure to keep his voice low, so as not to alert the pig-tailed girl behind him who was thankfully now preoccupied with Alya, that they were talking about her.

“I dunno, man. Maybe you make her nervous. You are a model after all…”

“So? I don’t make **you** nervous.”

“That’s cause I know you’re a major dork,” he replied, rolling his eyes fondly. “Look dude, I don’t know why Marinette acts the way she does around you, but I can assure you that she does not hate you. Try asking Alya or something…maybe she can tell you.”

Nino clapped him on the shoulder and sat back, but Adrien remained hunched over his desk, his fingers steepled in front of his face. _There was no way in hell he was going to ask Alya anything._

Sure, she was Nino’s girlfriend, and by extension, that made her his friend as well. Yet, he could never deny that the reporter intimidated the mess out of him.   Every time he engaged her in conversation, he couldn’t shake the feeling that she was interviewing him. He was always cautious, lest he spill anything that would tie him to being Chat Noir.  

Before he could dwell on the subject any further, Ms. Bustier walked into the room. “Good morning kids,” she said with a bright smile. “Welcome to the start of the new school year. As it is the last, I hope you all will do your very best and succeed before you all head off to lycée.”

With that said, their teacher quickly did role call. She was near the end of the list when someone knocked on the door, interrupting her. In walked the principal, Mr. Damocles, his hand on the shoulder of a young girl as he guided her into the classroom.

“Good morning to you all,” he greeted. “I am proud to announce that we have just received a new transfer student to our class. Eva, why don’t you introduce yourself to everyone.” He then handed Ms. Bustier a manila envelope and excused himself to go back to his office, leaving the young girl standing awkwardly at the front of the class.

Eva smiled at the group of kids before her, but her hands were interlocked tightly to her front, and her heels bounced up and down on the floor. She may have been trying to display an air of friendliness, but to Adrien, everything about her mannerisms screamed that she was outright nervous. It was a feeling he could clearly remember feeling on his first day of public school. He could relate to it all too well.

And although Ladybug would forever hold the title of most beautiful woman in _his_ book, the model in him had to admit that Eva Patel was very pretty as well. Her olive toned skin glowed in the sunlight streaming from the window and there wasn’t a single strand of hair out of place in the dark, wavy mass cascading down her back.

The dress she wore was one he recognized from his father’s collection; a navy blue number that fell right above her knees, with tiny white dots patterned across the stretchy fabric and a white belt cinching it at her waist. She paired it with a light pink cardigan and on her feet, a pair of close toed, white wedges. Adrien could foresee quite the number of guys becoming enamored with the tall and slender beauty before the class.

“Hello, everyone,” she said at last, her voice slightly accented-it sounded Indian. The class returned the greeting. “My name is Eva Patel and I hope we get along this year.”

“Thank you, Eva. You may have a seat next to Nathanaël,” said Ms. Bustier, gesturing to the seat all in the way back.

She nodded and tucked her hair behind her ear before walking up the stairs. As she passed Adrien’s table, she turned her head and made eye contact with him. There was a twinkle in her dark brown eyes as she smiled softly at him. Then, she was out of his line or sight.

Adrien frowned. He couldn’t quite place the brief flash of familiarity he had experienced when they’d made eye contact, but he could still remember the last time a transfer student had ended up showing an interest in him, and how _well_ that turned out. And by well, he meant horribly wrong. Lila had turned into one of their most fearsome akuma to date, succeeding almost twice in obtaining Ladybug’s earrings.

Hopefully, unlike Lila, the new transfer student didn’t mean to cause any trouble. She seemed like a nice enough girl, so until she did something out of the ordinary, he’d give her the benefit of the doubt.

The rest of the day passed in a blur. Adrien had occupied the time balancing between daydreaming about Ladybug and actually paying attention, until finally, it was time for lunch. Nino had excused himself to go on a mini date with Alya. He’d invited him, of course, but Adrien had no desire to become a third wheel. Even Chloé, of all people, had run off with Sabrina. Everyone seemed to have paired off with each other, whether that was with significant others or best friends.

He glanced behind him and saw Marinette packing her things in her bag and considered asking her if she wanted to grab a quick bite to eat when someone tapped him on the shoulder.

Eva grinned when he turned around and stuck her perfectly manicured hand out. A bit unsure, he gripped it and she responded by shaking it vigorously.

“It’s such a pleasure to meet you again, Adrien.” She said, pearly whites flashing from behind a pair of glossed lips. “I did not know you attended this school. What a wonderful coincidence! I was afraid I would not know a single person, but here you are!”

“Ah…yea,” he agreed, although he had absolutely no idea what she was going on about. “I’m sorry, but…how do I know you again?” _He felt like an absolute jerk for asking…_

Her eyes widened in what appeared to be either horror or embarrassment. “I’m so sorry!” she gushed, hands flying to her cheeks. “I should not have assumed you’d remember me. We modeled together a while back-about two years ago or so. For your father’s spring collection. The theme had been cherry blossoms…”

The gears began to spin in Adrien’s head and suddenly he could place the sense of familiarity he had with Eva. Memories of standing beneath flowering pink trees with a younger girl in a white dress for hours on end, while cameras flashed in his face, poured through his head. “Oh yea! I remember now. It was a pleasure working with you. You're a really talented model.”

She beamed and said, “Thank you.”

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Marinette take her bag off the desk and exit the room. There went his other lunch option…

But Eva was still there, staring down at him with expectant doe eyes, and he didn’t have the heart in him to be rude. It was just him and her left in the room, after all, and he was still hungry with absolutely no desire to go back to his home for a solo lunch.

And since Mama Agreste had raised a gentleman, he rubbed the back of his neck and suggested, “Hey, I was just about to go grab a bite to eat for lunch. Would you like to come with? We could eat and catch up for a while.”

Her head bobbed up and down, wavy hair tumbling over her shoulders with the effort. “That would be lovely. Let me just get my things and I’ll be right there.”

She scurried back to her desk and for the next few seconds, Adrien was left to wonder just what he had gotten himself into. But before he could second-guess his decision, she was back, and they were both off to find someplace to eat.

                         

**Author's Note:**

> So to clarify, Adrien and Marinette are around the age of 15. It's their last year of Collège, before they head off to Lycée(highschool for the Americans). This is Adrien's second year of school, so the gum thing happened a little over a year ago. Hope you enjoyed and stay tuned for more! ^_^ 
> 
> P.S. Don't start hating Eva so soon! XD


End file.
